


The Torment and Comfort of Laura Dynamite

by Hiver_Frost_Elf



Category: Original Work
Genre: Children, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Fantasy, Fear, Gen, Ghosts, Happy Ending, Night, Noises, Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 12:23:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19318105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hiver_Frost_Elf/pseuds/Hiver_Frost_Elf
Summary: Laura's terrified of all the noises ringing out tonight.





	The Torment and Comfort of Laura Dynamite

**Author's Note:**

> Also available on [Tumblr](https://hfeproductions.tumblr.com/post/185771249845/the-torment-and-comfort-of-laura-dynamite)

There was an intermittent thrumming somewhere outside Laura's room. It wasn't the dryer or the washing machine, because the dryer and the washing machine would've been a lot louder and more chuggier.

There was also chatter that didn't sound like her mothers. It sounded like someone who relied on their nose for all the sounds they made: their words, their laughter, their whines, and their complaints.

Just when Laura decided that the chatter was probably just a show her mothers had put on, something decided to briiiiiiiiing. It sounded like a doorbell and a cuckoo clock, but no polite person rang the doorbell after bedtime, and Laura's house didn't have any cuckoo clocks.

Then there came the screeeeeeeeee. Someone had to have been dragging a nail across the window. Laura didn't dare look at it. As long as she stayed under the blankets, nobody would be able to see her.

Laura was in tears from how much she wanted her mothers, but what if whoever had rung the doorbell and/or come to sell cuckoo clocks was already inside with their nasally friend. Laura's mothers could've already dead via whatever was still thrumming. If Laura called out for her mothers, she'd give away her position to all these ne'er-do-wells too.

If Laura left her room, they'd find her for sure. Laura would've tripped on several stuffed animals just on the journey to the door, and a ne'er-do-well would've heard her stumbling and rushed in to kill her too or take her away or whatever these particular ne'er-do-wells did with children.

If she stayed in her room, there was a chance they'd just peek inside and move on. It was dark enough that not even the doorknob reflected light. Laura might've been fine if she hid under the covers and stayed still and quiet.

However, Laura knew she was tall for her age, so staying under the covers wasn't an option. She'd make a lump on her bed, and she knew that ne'er-do-wells knew that bed lumps equaled children. Plus the scree-er at the window might've already seen her.

Leaving the room also wasn't an option. Even if she could make it to her mothers' room, the ne'er-do-wells were probably already there too.

Under her desk wasn't an option because with how the door and desk were positioned, the ne'er-do-wells could open the door, turn on the lights or a flashlight, and see Laura right there.

That left the closet.

Unlike most children she knew, Laura had a futon. That meant she didn't have far at all to go from the floor, plus her floor was carpeted, so movement would make minimal noise. What did make noise was the closet door. Laura thought for sure that the ne'er-do-wells were on their way after the closet creaked with every centimeter she nudged it.

She couldn't get in there fast enough. She huddled in the corner between the wall and her toybox, scrunching herself up to be as small as possible. She stifled her sobs and stilled her shaking as best she could. The chatter didn't stop, the thrumming began pulsing even faster, the bringing droned on and on, and the scree-ing continued without any remorse.

Laura picked her head up when she heard laughter and giggling. There were tinny sounds reminiscent of how 8-bit videogames rendered sparkling. She hunkered down, yet the new noises didn't stop. What they did do was drown out the previous noises.

Even so slowly, Laura looked over her shoulder. A breeze hit her skin. Her sight was too blurry to see shapes, yet she could see purples, blues, pinks, and greens. She wiped the tears away to see properly. The carpet gradually morphed into grass as it got farther away from her current spot. The sky was a night sky, but instead of being devoid of color and celestial bodies like the one outside her window, this one shined with auroras and stars. The sky was an iridescent duvet over this world she'd found.

The grass beneath her socks was short and soft like freshly-shorn hair. Laura watched for rocks and sticks and other things that might poke her feet, but there was no danger to be found. Instead, she found particles glittering in the grass.  A path of these particles lead her to a nearby hill. As she drew closer, Laura made out lights floating at the top. Laura paused at the base of the hill and watched the lights. Some of them floated still while others rushed about as if they were playing tag. The lights came in many colors, but primarily pastel yellows and whites that were so soft, they could've been mistaken for snowballs.

Laura looked back towards her closet. It was a blotch of darkness amidst this colorful world. It then occurred to Laura that she couldn't hear the scary noises anymore; there was just the laughter, the tinny sounds, and her own steps across the grass.

Just as she began to take her first step up the hill, there was a burst of laughter before the surprised shout of a child tumbling down the hill. The tumbling child was followed by a floating adult who moved as if he was being dragged by the child, yet there was no chord tying them together that Laura could see. Laura scrambled out of their way.

She moved towards the child to help him up once he'd rolled to a stop, but he got back to his feet with a carefree, "I'm okay!"

The adult exhaled relief, "Good. But try to be careful next time, alright?"

"Okay!" the child smiled, already on his way back up the hill without so much as stopping to dust himself off.

The adult rolled his eyes and moved to follow him, but he stopped once he saw Laura.  She took a step back and made herself look smaller, caught between whether she should flee or surrender. The adult seemed like he was about to speak when he got tugged towards the child.

"Phantom, come back for a sec!" the adult said over his shoulder.

The child, presumably this Phantom, whipped around. He dashed towards Laura as soon as he saw her. The adult got the wind knocked out of him as he got tugged towards the child yet again.

"Hi! I'm Phantom!" the child locked his eyes on Laura's while he glomped the teen. The child's arms initially went through the adult as if the grownup was made of fog. The adult solidified and smirked as Phantom barreled through introductions. "And this is Misty! He's a ghost, but don't worry, he won't haunt you; he only haunts me!"

Misty became incorporeal again and asked Laura, "What's your name, kid?"

"Laura," she said, speaking quieter than Misty and especially Phantom did.

"That's a weird name," said Phantom.

"Phantom," Misty sharpened the word—the name—with sternness.

"You're named Phantom," Laura pointed out.

"Yep," Phantom said without a hint of self-awareness. "And my brother's named Misty."

Misty. Laura suspected that his actual name was just Mist, but what dominated her attention about him was that while incorporeal, light drenched his brown skin. His whole form became translucent. He was also at least double Laura's height, with even more height tacked on because he floated. He also had a curly beard and curlier hair that made him look older than he sounded. Laura couldn't tell if he was an adult or a teenager anymore.

Phantom, on the other hand, was definitely a child—a living child, even! He only came up to Laura's shoulders, but he'd be tall amongst her classmates. His grin displayed a gap in his teeth that was ever so steadily being replaced. His skin was the same light brown as his brother's corporeal skin. His hair bubbled on top and faded down the sides, so he and Laura had bubbly hair in common; although Laura preferred hers in pigtails.

"Mind if we move up the hill?" Misty said after glancing back at it. "Don't wanna lose any of the flock."

Laura followed along. Misty was content to go at her pace, but Phantom was eager to get back to the top.

"We're star shepherds!" said Phantom. "We raise stars for their star dust, and when they're old enough, we send them off into the sky! Stars are nocturnal, so I get to stay up later than all the other kids!"

Misty snorted.

"How did you die?" Laura asked Misty.

"Rude!" Phantom hissed.

"It's alright, Phantom," Misty made a placating gesture at him before addressing Laura. "I'm guessing I'm the first ghost you've ever met."

"I'm sorry," Laura frowned.

"Don't worry about it, you didn't know. But yeah, I'm dead. I have to stay within a certain distance of Phantom, and it's exhausting to stay corporeal for long, but whatever," he said with a shrug. "Some people are paralyzed, some people are blind, and some people are dead. That's life for you."

"You mean afterlife!" chimed Phantom.

Misty groaned, "That was funny the first time I said it, not the nine-thousandth time you've said it."

"But if Laura's never met a ghost before, this has to be the first time she's heard it!"

Misty conceded that Phantom had a point, but he clearly wasn't happy about it, "The problem is you've told it to everyone since I've been dead."

"Well, it wasn't funny when you were alive."

Misty groaned again.

Laura listened and observed, fascinated by the anomaly of siblings. Laura liked being an only child. She didn't have to share her toys, her mothers, or her room. Then again, if she had an older sibling, they'd be brave enough and tough enough to thwart any ne'er-do-wells. If she was the older sibling, she'd have to do the thwarting, and Laura knew she was a shrimp in the grand scheme of things.  She assumed she wouldn't be any good at thwarting.

"Alright, baby stars, we're packing it in for the night," Misty announced when they got to the top of the hill. There were stars all over it. The grass sparkled, presumably with their star dust.

The stars made a bunch of tinny sounds. Laura supposed they were jubilant. Some of them gathered around Laura and circled her like satellites.

"Oh, they do that," Misty said. "They won't bite."

"Stars have teeth?" Laura grimaced.

Phantom smiled too widely to hide his intentions, "Should we tell her?"

Misty sighed before assuring her that stars didn't have teeth. However, one star did rub against her like a cat, leaving a splotch of star dust on her shirt. This inspired more stars to sprinkle stardust on her until Misty waved them away. Phantom gathered them all into what looked like a tiny, star-shaped purse. Phantom clipped this tiny purse onto a messenger bag once he'd collected all the stars. The messenger bag looked big for him, but Laura assumed it'd once been Misty's.

"We're gonna head home, Laura," Misty said. "It was nice to meet you."

Phantom glomped her, "Come earlier next time, and you can play with the stars. You have lots of stardust on you; that means they like you!"

"Just take a bath, and it'll wash right out," said Misty.

"Okay," Laura stood there, watching them go until she finally spoke up. "Mister Misty?"

"Hm?" Misty immediately turned to look at her. "What's up?"

"I'm afraid to go home."

Misty's eyes flared wide, and his fists balled up, "Phantom, hang on."

Phantom looked back. Only his head was visible over the hill, yet he returned when he saw Misty and Laura.

"Laura, do your parents…?" Misty interrupted himself. "Does your family hurt you?"

Worry drowned Phantom's face.

"No," Laura tilted her head to the side, looking at the boys skeptically. "There's lots of noises tonight, and bad guys might be in the house."

Phantom's breath hitched. He looked up at Misty, who took a deep breath before speaking calmly, "Alright, I'll go check it out. One good thing about being a ghost," Laura was amazed when he disappeared from view for a moment, "is I can become invisible. Lead the way, kid."

Laura led them back to the dark blot on the colorful world: her closet. She didn't even want to go back through it if she didn't have to, but Misty couldn't leave a world if Phantom stayed behind.

Slowly but surely, Laura padded back into her room. She wrapped herself up in a blanket before sitting on her bed. Phantom followed Misty to the door, but Misty told him to stay with Laura. Phantom pouted until he saw her face. Laura was trying to keep herself together, but she started to hear the scree-ing again. Phantom sat down in front of her. She sniffled. He fidgeted. He clearly was more comfortable being in motion, yet just as clearly, he wanted to stay with her.

Inspiration splashed across his face.  He took out a wand from the messenger bag. It had a star-shaped attachment at the end. He waved it around Laura. She looked up to see all the stardust drifting towards the wand. It stayed put as if magnetized while Phantom took a jar out of the messenger bag. He opened the jar and tapped the wand against the edge. The stardust steadily fell from the wand and filled the jar. The end product looked like someone had shaken a jar of glow-in-the-dark sand art. There was no dominant color; instead, it was a lantern of pastel particles.

Phantom presented the jar with a flourish, "Ta-da!"

The jar seized her attention. She took it, admired it. The scree-ing quieted down. The stardust spread light generously throughout the room without bothering Laura's eyes.

"Thank you," she said.

Phantom said, "No problem!"

She put it on the floor by her pillow because she wanted it right next to her when she got to sleep again.

"Do you have any stars?" Phantom asked. "Some people keep stars as pets."

"No, but Mama wants a cat. She had one while she and Mom were in college, but he died a little after I was born. Mama says she's ready for a new one now though. She takes me to pet stores and lets me pick out cat toys, but she wants to wait for Mom's next day off so we can all go and adopt a cat."

"Oh wow!" Phantom's eyes practically sparkled with excitement. "Misty says after collecting the next batch of stardust, we'll have enough for a stellar collie!"

"What's a stellar collie?"

"That's a stardog. It's like a sheepdog, but for stars! They're fluffy, but not too fluffy; and they come in a bunch of different colors and patterns. Our neighbor's had puppies a while, and she saved me the one I want. I'm pretty sure she's selling it to us for half-price or something cuz Misty made his you-don't-have-to-give-this-to-us face at her," Phantom frowned and crossed his arms to imitate Misty, although his smile swiftly returned. "But she did her own thing way before Misty died, so if she wants to sell it to us for less, she's gonna sell it to us for less. She lets me walk it and bring it over to me and Misty's house for visits—and there was one time she let it stay over cuz she was at a family reunion for a weekend."

Phantom went on and on about this awesome stellar collie. Its coat was marbled with gold, ruby, and obsidian. It had one floppy ear and one straight ear. It always bolted out the door when Phantom arrived to walk it, yet it always came back when he called for it.

Misty passed through the door, fully visible. Phantom was used to it; Laura was initially surprised to see it, but it eventually made sense to her that a ghost wouldn't bother opening a door.

"I didn't see or hear anybody out there," Misty said. "You're all clear, kid."

"Thank you, Mister Misty."

"No problem. Like Phantom said, come back again sometime. We're out on that hill every night unless it rains."

"Yeah!" added Phantom, already halfway in the closet. "You gotta come back to see my puppy! You can bring your cat too."

"Cats don't usually like leaving their territory."

"Oh, well, I'll just bring my puppy here! Bye!"

Misty followed Phantom into the closet. Laura flipped over her pillow and pulled up the blankets. She fell asleep studying her jar of stardust: how the different colors of particles scattered throughout, the texture of the jar and lid, the heftiness of the whole object. As she lay between the state of awake and asleep, she realized that the scree-ing and all the other noises had stopped.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for taking time to read this; enjoy what you do here and everywhere.


End file.
